The city's website is regularly updated and allows any resident to find general information on a wide range of topics.
The power of AI at the service of the residents of Aubange
Published on 26/08/2024 in Customer talks
What if artificial intelligence could be put to work for local authorities and local residents? This is the winning formula that the city of Aubange has set itself by developing IAubange in partnership with Proximus NXT.
Meet François Kinard, Mayor of the town of Aubange, and Benoît Hespel, AI Domain Lead at Proximus ADA, to discover how AI can optimize municipal administration services and improve citizen satisfaction.
Decongesting mailboxes and speeding up response times for residents
Like so many other towns and cities, Aubange's administrative services are under heavy pressure, and the city is finding it difficult to process requests within reasonable timescales.
The heterogeneity of the information available to residents and the diversity of the city's services complicate and lengthen response times. Moreover, the city's geographical location requires multilingual services and information for cross-border commuters from neighboring countries.
To address these issues, Aubange has set up a virtual assistant, called IAubange, based on the latest available artificial intelligence technologies, capable of providing relevant information from multiple data sources and a central information channel for residents.
Aubange is a French-speaking town in the Walloon Region of the Province of Luxembourg. It is located in the far south of the country, has a population of around 18,000 and shares borders with France and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Aubange's challenges
- Aubange wants to avoid frustrating residents as much as possible by implementing a tool that will provide the best possible, quickest, and most efficient answers to their questions.
- The city's aim is to enable its administrative departments to work on more complex tasks, while being supported by a high-performance system that brings together a wealth of information.
A tool for residents and local authorities
Generative intelligence is still fairly niche among local authorities, but it has proven its use in managing the flow of questions and information, and it has a lot of future potential as well. Benoît Hespel, IA Domain Lead at Proximus Ada, goes even further: “Beyond the AI assistant like the one developed for Aubange, we could also imagine it helping with summarizing documents, summarizing meetings, optimizing diaries, managing absences, providing support in organizing events, recognizing images, etc.”
“The virtual assistant is connected to various sources of information such as accounting and human resources. It offers the possibility of interacting over several communications channels such as WhatsApp or Messenger via an integrated chat.”
Benoît Hespel, AI Domain Lead at Proximus Ada
We have developed an AI model in partnership with Proximus NXT that enables faster and more efficient responses to residents.
François Kinard, Mayor of Aubange
A tailor-made solution
The residents will be the primary beneficiaries of this artificial intelligence tool. They will be able to find answers to general questions quickly and easily. These might range from questions about opening hours, to the procedure for applying for a passport in a hurry and its cost, or information for cross-border commuters on the conditions for settling and living in the municipality. This will represent a real time-saver for administrative staff.
They will be able to devote more time to more complex tasks and requests. Municipal employees will also gain in efficiency thanks to the centralization of information on IAubange, since they will have a single tool at their disposal for searching among all existing sources of information: Word or PDF documents, URLs, etc.
Project in test phase
“I would like to point out that the solution is currently in the test phase in Aubange, and that feedback from both residents and internal users will enable us to improve the development of the tool,” Benoît confides. This deployment will help avoid frustrations on all sides. AI will still generate errors, but municipal employees will be able to intervene when necessary to provide the right answer. “Every time a mistake is made, the system can be corrected. The feedback part is always important in software development,” Benoît explains.
“People expect us to be efficient. Thanks to this tool, we'll be able to develop our efficiency and save precious time in answering questions from residents but also agents.”
François Kinard, Mayor of Aubange
A promising future and applications
“AI is certainly not just about chatbots. While assistants using generative artificial intelligence are set to become more widespread and enable greater automation within towns and cities, classic AI also promises to provide considerable help,” Benoît concludes. Numerous other applications can be envisaged, such as intelligent traffic management and optimization, intelligent waste management, optimized energy use, and predictive maintenance for municipal infrastructures.
A simple implementation for the user
With Proximus NXT, AI is at your fingertips, allowing you to take a lighter approach to the future. Once you have decided to start with AI, Proximus NXT can help you set up a virtual assistant in just a few steps. In that regard, Benoît answers some frequently asked questions.
Do I need a lot expertise to set up an AI assistant?
“Not necessarily because the tool has been designed to be user-friendly. It works like a web platform in which users can simply manage the information in the virtual assistant and customize the user interface. Of course, the Proximus NXT teams are always available to guide and help you throughout the implementation.”
Who is working on developing the system?
“As part of the IAubange launch, the mayor was responsible for identifying the needs in the various departments of the city administration. An AI business consultant from Proximus Ada and two technical experts handled the AI side of things.”
How long does it take from the start of the project to the launch of the tool?
“Development generally takes three to four months.”
How did Aubange and Proximus NXT set up the AI tool? What are the major steps involved?
“Proximus NXT has extensive experience in developing solutions and tools mobilizing artificial intelligence, and it has its own agile methodology.
As part of the development of the AI assistant for the city of Aubange, we followed the following iterative and agile steps:
- Ideation
- Project framework definition
- Data exploration
- Prototype development
- Industrialization
- User-friendliness testing
- Error correction at each stage
The city of Aubange was involved in each of these steps and is the driving force behind the project's success.”
The history of Aubange in three questions
In partnership with Proximus NXT, the city of Aubange has launched a generative artificial intelligence project in the form of a virtual assistant called IAubange. This is a solution that can provide residents with answers to their most important questions on topics as diverse as civil status, population, etc.
-
-
There is a lot of information available on the city's website but municipal employees receive all kinds of questions from residents every day and that takes time away from working on more complex questions. In addition to assisting residents with IAubange, AI could help the city to respond to other major challenges such as the efficient management of teams, emergencies, and crisis events.
-
The artificial intelligence system developed with Proximus NXT will provide real help to local residents and make it easier for them to find answers to their questions, but it will also save a great deal of time for municipal staff. “Thanks to the collaboration with Proximus NXT, we have been able to set up a tool tailored to our city which is important for residents who need information specific to their area. IAubange assistance will be truly relevant. We'd love to develop lots of other AI sectors, but let's start at the beginning with this one.”
Develop your own AI solution
AI is on a roll and there are numerous studies showing that, by 2030, it will be deployed widely within companies across all sectors. Our experts are ready to help you implement AI solutions in your company.
Experts
Our experts keep you informed on the latest news and trends for ICT professionals. Meet the ICT-experts of Proximus NXT.